Deck out your desktop with some awesome new wallpapers

Bold 3D wallpapers are a growing trend that we happen to think look extremely cool. Beautifully rendered with gorgeous colors, interesting subject matter, and items that look as though you can reach out and touch them are only a few of the reasons you should get in on the fun. Whether you're looking for some additions to spice up your collection or needing some new desktop adornments, we've rounded up 40 of the best 3D wallpapers we could find, with some fun geeky surprises here and there.

A screensaver retrospective

Turn back the clock to about a decade ago, and the screensaver was THE standard piece of software on any computer. This wasn’t because they helped PC performance – if anything, they wasted memory space. The real reason they were an accessory every PC couldn’t go without was because of our Cathode Ray Tube (CRT) monitors. These CRT screens were the standard display used by millions of computers worldwide. However, they suffered from the threat of "burn-in." For the uninitiated, burn-in was when an image remained on the screen for too long and caused a phosphor compound that would leave a ghostly etching of the image permanently on the screen.

Google recognizes that it gets pretty boring staring at a static image everyday, which is one of the reasons why Gmail comes with different color schemes and themes. Fancy a retro arcade look? It's there, as are scenic locations like a mountain landscape, summer ocean, and planets. But why stop there? The sultan of search just added yet another way to customize your Gmail account by letting you upload your own background images.

With every browser now sporting integrated search capabilities, we find ourselves on Google's main landing page less and less. Should you wander over to Google.com, however, you'll notice that the search titan has begun adding background photos, representing a dramatic departure from the minimalistic look that has become a staple of Google's homepage.

For those of you not digging the change and voicing your displeasure via Twitter, Google has heard your complaints and had this to say:

"The Google home page should be back to normal tomorrow where you can keep it in its simple and classic look, choose to upload an image or photo, or switch back and forth," a Google spokeswoman said.

For everyone else, the images are a welcome change, and there are a whole bunch to choose from, including some gorgeous landscape photos from National Geographic. You'll also find artwork from sculptors and a whole host of other images broken down into a Public gallery and Editor's pics, or you can use an image from your PC or My Picasa Web photos.

Is the stock Google homepage looking just a little too bland these days? Google has maintained the same minimalist look for it entire history, with only the occasional doodle to liven things up. This is the polar opposite of Bing, which busts out snazzy images every day. Well, now you can add a custom background image to Google.com.

Won't this basically destroy the nifty minimalist aspect of the Google homepage? Probably. But no one says you have to pick a busy image, or that you have to use the feature at all. The new feature is currently rolling out and should be available to everyone in a few days. Check the lower left corner of the page to see if you have the option yet. We wouldn't be surprised to see corporations start branding the Google homepage just because they can.

Do you plan to change your Google background, or is the stock look best?

Sometimes, a particular application comes along that is just so groundbreaking, so interesting, so... kick ass... that it deserves its own special mention in a separate, "you must download this app right now" kind of article. While I write a number of these such stories-weekly updates of interesting little programs you might want to check out if you have a spare moment-rarely do I so vehemently demand that you grab an application and download it. Immediately.\